


Has Your Mama Taken You to a Circus?

by Synnie



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Bix is a great dad, Childhood Memories, Circus, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Raijinshuu Appreciation Week, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 11:50:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19272709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synnie/pseuds/Synnie
Summary: There's a circus in town, so Bixlow pulls his son out of school so they can go see it before he leaves on a job.





	Has Your Mama Taken You to a Circus?

**Author's Note:**

> It's Bixlow day in the Raijinshuu Appreciation week and this little thing came to me.
> 
> Also, this past Sunday was Father's Day so it kind of ties into that as well.

A knock at the door interrupted the lessons being taught to the grade six students of Magnolia Elementary School. The teacher opened the classroom door to see the principal standing there. Standing behind him and dwarfing him completely, was one of the most powerful mages in Fairy Tail. The fact that he was also one of the tallest only made him seem more ominous. Not to mention the wooden tiki dolls that floated around that were animated by _real human souls._

The dark presence was shattered by the stupidly large, tongue lolling grin on his face.

One of the students flashed him a matching grin and gave a small wave.

"Yo! Come on, kid, I'm pullin' you out."

The principal nodded. "Indy, he's signed you out."

"Is everything okay?" Indy, the eleven year old boy that had returned the smile asked as he packed up his things, asked. He made his way out to the hallway and looked up at his dad.

"Some family stuff came up," was all Bixlow said.

At least until they got outside where the principal wouldn't hear why he was really pulled.

"Don't worry, everyone's fine. I gotta head out for a job later and I wanted to take you somewhere before I go."

That got Indy's interest piqued. "Can I drop my bag off at home?"

Bixlow laughed. "Let's not and say we did. Your Mama doesn't know I got you." He knew though that she wouldn't be worried that he had the boy.

They shared another grin. Indy looked exactly like his father, save for his hair being purple and not having any tattoos or guildmarks. Not only did they look alike, but they acted alike. Bixlow never acted his age, always saying he didn't know how old he really was because of Tenrou.

Indy was born before the Tenrou incident, but Bixlow had no idea he existed until after he had gotten back and he heard rumour from another mage that there was a kid with his weird eyelashes a few towns over from Magnolia.

Since then, they had been nearly inseparable, though he did try to limit how often he pulled Indy from class.

This time it couldn't be helped.

They cut through Magnolia's side streets, hoping to avoid anyone who would rat them out. Twice Bixlow had to grab Indy and "hide" above people's heads, putting a leg on each building to stay up.

They'd stay there, hands clasped over their mouths as they tried to stay quiet. Technically as a respectable parental figure, Bixlow could sign him out of class and stroll through the town, but it was much more fun to hide behind dumpsters and run when no one was looking.

Finally they made it to their destination.

"We're going to the circus?” Indy asked excitedly.

"Hell yeah we are!"

 

The pair walked under the archway that had a large and colourful welcoming banner and were immediately immersed in the chaotic, infective bustle of the circus grounds.

Anything Indy wanted to do, they did. A stop at a face painting station gave him a matching "tattoo" on his face. They found a man that would sketch them for a small fee who had been okay with Bixlow taking his mask off for the drawing, so long as no magic was used. As soon as it was finished, it went back on.

Bixlow's control over his magic was very strong. But sometimes he got trapped in his head and it was safer for everyone to keep himself covered just in case.

But taking it off to have a drawing done with his kid? Easy. He couldn't help but grin over how tightly his son clenched the paper.

They headed for the concession stand and loaded up on candy and drinks before making their way into the big top to find their seats. They sat eating their snacks and talking as they waited for it to begin.

"Has your Mama taken you to a circus?" Bixlow asked as he flicked a piece of popcorn at his son's face.

Indy shrugged and flicked one back. "She said she did but I don't remember it. I was too little. Have you been before?"

"Yeah. My mom used to pull me out of class like I did with you."

Indy held his breath. His grandmother was a very sensitive subject. She had died when his dad was younger than he was, and talking about her either made him smile or sent him spiraling into a breakdown.

But today, talking about her made Bixlow smile, and it made him think back to his childhood.

 

_Niri was a young mother who may as well have been raising him alone, so she didn't always get a chance to spend time with her son. She worked until the early hours of the morning but always saw him off to school. When he got home, they spent a short time together, ate together, and then she would be gone until morning._

_They did their best, but sometimes that small amount of time together just wasn't enough. So Niri would do things like keep Bixlow home on his birthday so they could bake a cake together. She woke him up sometimes to just go play in the park._

_And once a year from as far back as Bixlow could remember until the year she died, they went to the circus together._

_Niri always loved the death defying feats - being launched out of cannons, running on the outside of moving wheels high in the air - she was also partial to the aerial silks acts._

_But her favourite thing to watch was Bixlow react to the aerial performers - the trapeze, hoops, silks, tightrope walking, everything like that._

_Niri was always smiling softly at her son who didn't notice. He was on the edge of his seat watching men and women fly through the air. They swung upside down, held onto bars with only the hook of a knee, let go and flip through the air only up be caught by their equally daring costar._

_He would gasp and point. His red eyes were huge as he took in every nuance of their performances._

_Every new act or trick that was performed, he would tug her sleeve and point. "I want to do that!"_

_His enthusiasm was infectious and Niri encouraged every single one of his dreams. It didn't matter to her if he only wanted to do them for fun, or if one day he wanted to go join the circus himself._

_All of Niri's money went to providing food and shelter for her family. But she still saved a little bit here and there to set up a wire for him to balance on. Any time they played in the park in the middle of the night, Bixlow showed off his constantly improving acrobatic skills to his biggest fan._

_Her support was everything to him and he worked as hard as he could to keep that smile and look of pride on her face._

 

It was Bixlow's first time being back in the big top since he was a kid and even though the acts were no less captivating, he found his attention was elsewhere. It was on bright, red eyes that watched the aerial performers he had loved so much with just as much enthusiasm as he’d had as a kid.

But there was something a little different. He could see Indy looking from the performance to him, back and forth with huge eyes.

When the show was over, Indy's wide eyes fixated on the seith mage. "Dad… you do the same stuff they do!"

Indy's mind was a whirlwind of the feats he had seen Bixlow perform, from holding him in the air above crowds as they made their way to the circus, to seeing him hang upside down from banners, to trying various stunts in midair balanced on his Tikis.

"Yeah, I do, kid. The circus made me wanna learn, so I did."

Indy's smile was wide. "Teach me."

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you think!
> 
> (And I'm always down to talk about my precious love Bix)


End file.
